Data showed that Nigeria kept exporting crude oil at a largely steady pace in May, though below historical levels, despite repeated militant attacks on its infrastructure that drove output down to 30-year lows this spring and helped global prices rise, Reuters reports.

Data from maritime intelligence firm Windward and Thomson Reuters showed a far smaller drop in exports from April to May than most in the market had expected. It suggested that Nigerian oil production is more resilient than many thought. Its oil industry has been grappling with a spate of militant attacks that knocked production levels to almost 30 year lows but Windward showed May exports dropping by just 62,000 barrels per day (bpd) from April, with exports still reaching 1.89 million bpd.

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Reuters data showed total exports in May at roughly 1.67 million bpd, down from 1.77 million bpd in April, and also a rise in exports of grades including Bonga, Agbami, Antan, Amenam, Okwori that helped to offset the losses. The figures remain substantially below the close to 2 million bpd Nigeria has exported in the best of times but they suggest that many industry observers, for example the “secondary sources” polled by OPEC that pegged Nigeria’s May production at around 1.4 million bpd, were overly pessimistic about its ability to keep pumping.

(Source: ENERGY MIX REPORT)